Times are a-changin'.

Ok, this is my own version of new years resolutions - difference is that it's not the calender new year, but new academic year. I go by that, since I've been at school for such a long bloody time of my life. When people say 'next year', I think of it as an academic year, Sept/Oct - June/July + summer. Including holidays, of course.

So yeah. This is what I'm going to do or try to do this year:

Academic-wise:

• √  Get a part time job/volunteer work at a school 
• Get as close to a first I can
• Finish 75+% of my dissertation by week 2 of Lent term
• Find and apply for post-graduate work schemes for the 2011/12 academic year, instead of or in case I don't get a PGCE or SCITT course straight away.
• √  Apply for the Teach First scheme, even if it is for secondary schools and I'd be stuck doing English (I enjoyed it, and I could still do it, so why not?) if I get nowhere with the above as well.   - I applied, I got rejected. I'm not business-personlike enough.

 Social/Personal Improvement wise:

• Meet lots of new people; I do anyway with the history society, but I guess I mean people in my year, as well. Talk to people more and maybe go out more than I did this past year, and force myself to talk to people and such.
• √  Lose the weight I gained. Ok, it's not a lot, but I rather hate it and it's making wearing certain otherwise perfectly good items of clothing a bit of a chore.   - just have to keep it down now.
• Tone those bits I'm unhappy with
• Stick to some ''beauty'' regime for longer than a few weeks. Even if it's just doing star jumps every morning.
• Gain yet more confidence
• Expand my hobbies. Ok, I won't be able to play my instruments at uni, but I could maybe check out the choir again, or work more with my photography, or try out other crafty things. 
• Be more organised than I already am, but in a less anal sort of way. Obsessiveness leads to carelessness, I've found, and I guess if I can just remember to carry a personal organiser around, it wouldn't be an issue in the first place. As social sec of the hist soc, it's perfectly reasonable to fork out £5 for a nice one. 
• √  Take the plunge more often to try organising things and meet-ups. Even if it's horrible to be told people are busy, or they don't really fancy doing that stuff, it's ok to ask in the first place.  
• Expand my cookery repertoire. 
• Get a damn swimming costume. I dislike bikinis and tankinis have fitting issues, so if I want to swim, I'd better find myself a swimming costume. A plain one will do.

I'm sure many more will be added to that list as I go... I'll try to remember to do a check list of it in a year's time.